Freezer Burn
by AngstyBob
Summary: Mick is bummin' about his birthday.


**Freezer Burn**

Mick was feeling down in the dumps. It was his 86th birthday, and he'd gone the entire day without seeing any of his friends. No-one had wished him a happy birthday, and he wasn't happy about it. He was in a pretty foul mood when he returned to his apartment.

Mick opened the door slowly, and was relieved not to find anyone sitting in his living room waiting for him. He grabbed a bottle of O-positive and sat down on the couch. Gulping down the blood, he reflected on what a horrible day this had been.

"Happy birthday to me," Mick thought to himself glumly.

He finished his drink and put the empty bottle in the kitchen sink. He decided to turn in, and started up the stairs toward his room. As he climbed the stairs, he sulked about not having seen Beth all day. He sulked about not having seen Josef all day. He sulked about spending another birthday in his miserable eternal existence alone.

Mick reached the top of the stairs, and reached for the doorknob to his room. He suddenly stopped cold, his hand poised just above the knob, his head cocked to one side, eyes closed. Something was not right. He took in a deep breath, and was met with a strange mix of odors. There were so many scents it was difficult to make them out individually. He thought he could smell Beth, which would make sense. She had been to his apartment many times. He was pretty sure he could smell Josef, which was normal. Josef had also frequented his apartment. What most concerned Mick were the various other scents he couldn't identify.

He opened his eyes and grabbed the doorknob, turning it every so slowly, ready for anything. He swung the door open inch by inch. The room was dark, and the scents that he had detected before were stronger now. Josef had been in this room before, but had Beth? Mick didn't think so. And what about the other scents? He was sure he could smell people – or creatures – he wasn't familiar with. His vampire sense of danger was on high alert. His eyes yellowed, and he drew back his lips in a snarl that revealed fangs.

He could see the freezer that served as his bed, but seeing the freezer gave him no comfort. Something wasn't right. The freezer looked different somehow. Was someone – or something – hiding in there? He couldn't tell for sure. But he was positive that there was something different about the freezer.

Mick slowly crept into the room, walking gingerly across the floor so as not to cause any creaking that might help an intruder pin-point his location. The walk from the doorway to the freezer seemed to take an hour. In actuality it took less than a minute.

Mick reached the freezer and put his hand on the lid. He counted to three to himself, and then flung the lid open, prepared to defend against whatever might spring out at him.

"What the…" Mick started. There was no-one in the freezer, but he couldn't believe what he did see inside. The freezer was full of ice, packed with packages of spare ribs and chicken, and what looked to be a couple of cases of bottled beer.

Suddenly the lights in his room flashed on and a chorus of voices screamed, "Happy birthday!" Mick nearly jumped out of his skin. He looked around, and here was Beth, jumping out from a hiding spot behind his curtains, a huge grin on her face. Josef was there, too, smiling broadly with a gorgeous young lady on each arm. They had been crouching behind the freezer

Josef and Beth led the group in singing "Happy Birthday to You" as Coraline walked in carrying a cake with an impossible number of candles ablaze on top of it.

Mick was overwhelmed. A tear formed in the corner of one eye and trailed down his cheek.

"Jeez, man, don't get all sentimental on us," Josef said. "We thought you were never coming home!"

Mick dabbed at his eyes. "You people scared the heck out of me!" he said in a voice that cracked with emotion.

Beth planted a kiss on Mick's cheek. "Happy birthday, Mick!" she said.

"I'll bet this was all your idea," Mick scolded her playfully.

"Mine and Josef's," Beth confessed. "The barbeque was my idea, though. You vampires may not eat, but us humans like to chow down when we have a party. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to fire up the stove and get the ribs and the chicken started".

"Time to blow out the candles!" said Coraline. "And make a wish! But be careful - I get nervous around fire when you're in the room".

Mick drew in a huge breath and blew out all 86 candles.

"What did you wish for?" Josef asked.

"If I tell you, it won't come true, now will it?" Mick answered.

"May we assume it had something to do with a certain female human "BuzzWire" reporter?" Josef asked. Coraline scrunched up her nose.

"You can assume whatever you want," Mick said, "but I'm not going to tell you".

"Then help me carry some of this human food downstairs so we can get this party started," Josef said, loading his arms with packages of ribs and chicken and gesturing to his lady friends to do the same. Mick grabbed an armful of beers.

"Right behind you, my friend," Mick said, "right behind you". He followed Josef downstairs, thinking to himself that this was turning out to be a pretty good birthday after all.


End file.
